I’ve been getting kind of curious about these, especially in how well they perform as advertised.
I’ve seen some of the Phantom and Vortex stuff, but I’m less convinced that they function as well, especially on shorter barreled weapons. If I’m wrong I’d love hearing about it.
Are there other, newer models that perform well, and as far as a Brake, don’t necessarily deafen fellow shooters?
PWS FSC556 gives you the best of both worlds, IMHO, as far as a FH and MB.
the vortex is awesome as a FH - especially on SBRs. i did a night shoot with a 10.5" upper and it worked extremely well.
What did the people next to you say?
for the FSC556, if you’re about 45° to the side and behind, a bystander can feel the blast and it’s louder than an A2 hider. not like a Y-comp though.
for the vortex, i don’t recall anyone saying anything about blast. just how effective it was at eliminating flash.
Last summer, while my buddy was firing my 14.5 LMT w/ FSC 5.56 I stood about 3 feet to the left of the muzzle, slightly forward and slightly back while he fired a few drills to gauge the blast. Though I was wearing ear-pro I can say that the muzzle blast, while more than an A2, was not obnoxious.
I have the VLTOR VC-1 flash suppressing compensator on my mid length. It works quite well as a flash hider and I don’t feel any negative effects, but I have been told (in no uncertain terms) by several people working around me that it was thumpy.
I wish the FSC556 was a bit shorter. It works, but I’m taking mine off a 6920 and putting it on an 18" barrel.
For my 16" guns I just stick to A2’s and Vortexes. I bought a Blackout to see how that works.
What about a forward blast compensator? Similar to the KAC prototype costa was running. The Levang Linear has similar properties. I know nothing of this particular model or forward blast compensators. Curious if anyone has some knowledge.
http://www.parts4ar15.com/ar-15_accessories/product/GS-01.html
have you seen the Addax bulldog? it’s a shortened FSC556 that PWS makes for them - i have one on my Addax GPU. it’s nice, and all the sharp corners/edges are rounded off (edited to add - direct link to pic didn’t work - this is for the main article):
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/ar.uppers2.html#gpu
Hmmm, interesting…I just had two of those permanently installed on a couple of 14.5" uppers. I haven’t gotten out to shoot them yet. I was unaware that they were anything but flash suppressors.
mm, that pic you linked shows in my browser as “forbidden”
They clearly market it as a “flash-hider and compensator”:
here’s a link to the article with the pic. interesting - i used to be able to text link to my images, but hadn’t tried it with the new server.
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/ar.uppers2.html#gpu
OK cool that worked. Normally I don’t have any problems whats so ever with your site, perhaps it is your new server? 
Militarymoron, what bandoleer system are you wearing in the video? I checked your gear reviews but didn’t see anything…
MM,
Thanks for the link.
I wish they would have shortened the MB part and left the FH part the same length, but it looks better.
Dave
OK so here’s the next question, and I’m afraid I already know the answer, but is this Addax Bulldog too short to bring a 14.5" to legal OAL?
it only adds about 1.2" to the end of the barrel (not counting the threaded portion), so it’s not going to make the 16".